Regeneration: Being an Account of the Social Work of The Salvation Army in Great BritainHaggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Religion
Regeneration: Being an Account of the Social Work of The Salvation Army in Great Britain
Haggard, H. Rider (Henry Rider)
Great Britain -- Social conditions; Salvation Army
That well-known philanthropist, the late Mr. Herring, was another
person much impressed with the importance of this matter, and I
remember about five years ago dining with him, with General Booth as
my fellow-guest, on an occasion when all this subject was gone into in
detail. So lively, indeed, was Mr. Herring's interest that he offered
to advance a sum of £100,000 to the Army, to be used in an experiment
of land-settlement, carried out under its auspices. Should that
experiment prove successful, the capital repaid by the tenants was to
go to King Edward's Hospital Fund, and should it fail, that capital
was to be written off. Of this £100,000, £40,000 has now been invested
in the Boxted venture, and if this succeeds, I understand that the
balance will become available for other ventures under the provisions
of Mr. Herring's will. A long while must elapse, however, before the
result of the experiment can be definitely ascertained.
The Boxted Settlement is situated In North Essex, about three miles
from Colchester, and covers an area of 400 acres. It is a flat place,
that before the Enclosures Acts was a heath, with good road frontages
throughout, an important point where small-holdings are concerned. The
soil is a medium loam over gravel, neither very good nor very bad, so
far as my judgment goes, and of course capable of great improvement
under intensive culture.
This estate, which altogether cost about £20 per acre to buy, has
been divided into sixty-seven holdings, varying in size from 4-1/2
acres to 7 acres. The cottages which stand upon the holdings have been
built in pairs, at a cost of about £380 per pair, which price
includes drainage, a drinking well, and, I think, a soft-water
cistern. These are extremely good dwellings, and I was much struck
with their substantial and practical character. They comprise three
bedrooms, a large living-room, a parlour, and a scullery, containing a
sink and a bath. Also there is a tool-house, a pigstye, and a movable
fowl-house on wheels.
On each holding an orchard of fruit trees has been planted in
readiness for the tenant, also strawberries, currants, gooseberries,
and raspberries, which in all occupy about three-quarters of an acre.
The plan is that the rest of the holding should be cultivated
intensively upon a system that is estimated to return £20 per acre.
The arrangement between the Army and its settlers is briefly as
follows: In every case the tenant begins without any capital, and is
provided with seeds and manures to carry him through the first two
years, also with a living allowance at the rate of 10_s_. a week for
the man and his wife, and 1_s_. a week for each child, which allowance
is to cease after he has marketed his first crops.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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